Wagering game terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. The popularity of such wagering game terminals among players generally depends on the perceived likelihood of winning money at the terminal and the intrinsic entertainment value of the terminal relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing terminals and the expectation of winning each terminal is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the more entertaining and exciting of the terminals. Consequently, wagering game terminal operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting terminals available because such terminals attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability for the operators. Thus, in the highly competitive wagering game terminal industry, there is a continuing need to develop new types of games, or improvements to existing games, that will enhance the entertainment value and excitement associated with the games.
One concept that has been successfully employed in existing wagering game terminals to enhance player entertainment is the use of progressive games. In the gaming industry, a “progressive” game involves collecting coin-in data from participating gaming device(s) (e.g., slot machines), contributing a percentage of that coin-in data to a progressive jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a certain jackpot-won event. A jackpot-won event typically occurs when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming device. If the gaming device is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along a certain payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the gaming machine without winning the jackpot. Further, when several gaming machines are linked together such that several players at several gaming machines compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate, which leads to further player excitement.
Another concept that has been employed is that of a secondary or “bonus” game which may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may include any type of game, either similar to or entirely different from the basic game, and is typically initiated by the occurrence of certain pre-selected events or outcomes of the basic game. Examples of the types of bonus games may include adventure games, guessing games, games of chance, and the like. Such a bonus game has been found to produce a significantly higher level of player excitement than the basic game alone because it provides an additional chance to play, which increases the player's overall expectation of winning.
Whether in a basic game or a bonus game, most existing wagering games have a set of symbols that are displayed in various combinations to indicate the outcome of the game. For example, slot machines have symbols on the reels, card games have symbols on the cards, and so forth. Each symbol usually stands on its own and is evaluated separately from the other symbols. Thus, the evaluation of a “7” symbol on a reel of a slot machine, for example, does not typically depend on the “Cherry” symbol, and so on. In some slot machines, certain special symbols such as “wildcard” symbols may assume multiple values or meanings based the neighboring symbols. However, even a “wildcard” symbol stands alone in that its function as a wildcard does not depend on some other symbol. Such an arrangement is rigid and limits the number and types of wagering games that may be developed, potentially depriving players of more exciting and enjoyable wagering games.
Accordingly, what is needed is a wagering game that is not constrained to individual, stand-alone symbols. More specifically, what is needed is a wagering game where multiple symbols may be evaluated in conjunction with one another.